Needle guard for sewing machines



Aug. 4, 1936. w. JACOBSON 2,050,095

NEEDLE GUARD FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Feb. 25, 1935 INVENTOR WILLlAM JACOBSON TORNEY Patented Aug. 4, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My present invention relates to. the. guarding of sewing machine needles, and more particularly to an improved needle guard for a sewing machine of the power driven type.

Although various needle guards have been devised for power driven sewing machines especially adapted for use in factories, these previous guards have not been entirely satisfactory in actual usage. One of the most important disadvantages found to be inherent in such needle guards of the prior art, is the unduly complicated.v construction of the device. This complicated construction has resulted in interference with the working efliciency of the operator, the cumbersome construction also ultimately resulting in a complete disregard of the guard by the operator.

Accordingly, it is one of the main objects of the present invention to provide a needle guard for operators of power driven sewing machines in factories, the guard being exceedingly simple in construction and involving but a single mechanical member requiring no attention on the part of the operator, and interfering in no way with the working eificiency of the operator.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a sewing machine needle guard which will effectively protect the operator from pricking his fingers, and at the same time permits an unobstructed view of the needle at all times, the guard comprising but a single mechanical member which is constructed to be attached to the presser foot of a sewing machine in such a manner that the needle of the machine is safe at all times from accidental breakage by movement of the guard against the needle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a needle guard for a sewing machine which comprises but a single mechanical member, and which not only functions to safeguard the operator from pricking his fingers, but functions as a guide for the threading of the needle without the necessity of removing the guard or adjusting it in any manner.

Still another object of the invention is to generally improve the efiiciency and simplicity of needle guards for sewing machines, and more especially to provide such a guard for power driven sewing machines adapted for use in factories, the needle guard of the present invention being exceedingly simple in construction, and being readily manufactured by a single stamping operation, and the needle guard being additionally reliable and durable in operation on the sewing machine.

The novel features which I believe to be characteristic of my invention are set forth in particularity in. the. appended claims, the invention itself, however, as. to both its construction and method of operation will best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the, drawing in which I have indi- 5 cated diagrammatically a construction whereby my invention may be carried into effect.

In the drawing:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the presser foot of a sewing machine embodying the present in- Vention,

Fig. 2 is a. front view of the guard detached from the presser foot, and showing the details of construction. thereof,

Fig. 3 is a View of the presser foot and attached guard taken on the reverse side of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing wherein like reference characters in the different figures designate similar mechanical elements, the numeral I designates a portion of the head of i a sewing machine, in which is mounted the presser bar 2 and the needle bar 3. There is secured upon the lower end of the presser bar 2,. by means of the screw 4, a presser foot 5 of the usual and well known construction. A needle 6 is attached to the needle bar by means of the screw 1 in the customary fashion,

The presser foot itself is of a type well known to those skilled in the art and comprises the usual toe 5 which is provided with the spaced fingers 8 and 9. Each of these two fingers have their free ends curved upwardly in order that the work material may readily move under them.

The finger 8' is provided with a ledge 9, and it will be understood that the toe 5 is pivotally. secured to the upright. portion of the presser foot 5. As those skilled in the art are well aware the presser toe 5' is normally spring pressed in a downwardly direction at the rear side of the toe portion. This type of self-adjustable presser foot is so well known in the art that it needs no further description.

, The needle guard is designated by the numeral I0, and as shown in Fig. 2 it is substantially L- shaped in configuration. The horizontal portion ll thereof includes a recess l2 which conforms in outline to the contour of the ledge 9 of the presser toe. The vertical portion of the guard is provided with a recess l 3 which receives the screw 4; it is also provided with an inclined recess l4 whose function it is to receive the securing screw Hi.

In Fig. 1 there is shown the manner of attaching the needle guard to the presser foot, and it will be observed that the screw I5, and that the screws I and 4 retain the needle'guard in position. It will also be observed that the width of the vertical portion of the guard I0 is substantially equal to that of the vertical portion of presser foot 5. By virtue of the inclined recess I4 any tendency of the guard ID to move in a rearwardly direction is overcome because of the fact that the inner edge of recess I4abuts the bolt of screw I5.

Again, such a tendency towards movement is overcome by the fact that the configuration of recess I2 of the guard II conforms to the configuration of ledge 9, thus serving as an additional abutment to prevent such undesired motion. Due to the positive gripping action of screws 4 and I 5, as well as the outline of recess I2 against ledge 9, breakage of needle 6 by the guard I0 is prevented.

The length of the horizontal portion II of the guard I0 is such that it substantially covers the entire length of the finger 8. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3 the horizontal portion II of the needle guard has a height such that the finger of the operator which is customarily placed adjacent finger 8 is completely guarded against any accidental piercing by needle 6. Furthermore, the height of this horizontal portion Ii is made such that when the needle 6 is at its uppermost position, the point thereof will be sufiiciently below the upper horizontal edge II of the horizontal portion I I to render the guard entirely fool proof.

In this latter position of the needle 5, it will be noted that the thread aperture I4 is positioned but a slight distance above the edge II of the guard. Thus the edge II serves as a guide, or support, for the thread when the operator desires to thread the needle without necessitating in any manner the removal of the finger guarding barrier. It will, therefore, be seen that the guard not only functions as a finger protective device, but that its upper edge also functions as a supporting guide for the thread when the needle is to be rethreaded. Merely by way of example it is pointed out that in the uppermost position of the needle 6, as shown in Fig. 1, the threading eye is about of an inch above the edge II.

In other words the height of the guard portion II should be such that the needle eye I4 will be about 5 of an inch above edge II at the uppermost position of needle 6.

It will now be appreciated that the needle guard of the present invention comprises but a single mechanical member, and that it is constructed to be positively gripped in position against the presser foot, and functions to protect at all times the operators finger, and even accomplishes this protecting function during threading of the needle.

One of the advantages of the present guard construction is that the vertical portion thereof may be readily eliminated, and the horizontal portion I I may be cast integral with the upright portion of the presser foot. This eliminates the need for screw [5 and recess I4. Again, the guard I0 is just effective and eificient in use in conjunction with different types of presser feet. For example, the presser foot may be of the type wherein the toe 5 is integral with the upright portion of the presser foot. Even where the presser foot does not include a ledge 9, the recess I2 is not suificiently wide to be detrimental to the protective function of the guard. Hence, the needle guard is universal in its application. Of course, the guard may be carried by the operator and attached to the machine at the beginning of each days work; or the guard may be permanently secured to the machine. The material of the guard I!) may be brass or steel; it is pointed out that its particular composition is immaterial to its functioning in the present invention, except that it be rigid in nature. It is obvious that the present invention, due to its simplicity and positive protecting function, is of great value to owners of factories where power driven sewing machines are utilized in that it rethat many modifications may be made without departing from the scope of my invention, as set forth in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

In combination with the presser foot of a sewing machine, a needle guard comprising a single plate of rigid material, said plate having a substantially L-shaped configuration, the vertical section of the plate being provided with at least one recess adapted to receive a device for rigidly securing the plate to the presser foot shank, the horizontal section of the plate being substantially equal in length to the toe of the presser foot, the lower edge of the horizontal section having a contour complementary to that of the upper surface of the toe and being substantially in contact with said upper surface for the entire length thereof at the side of the foot to which the vertical section is secured whereby the needle is relatively widely spaced from said horizontal section, the vertical edge of the toe at said side being in the same plane as the outer face of the said horizontal section, the said horizontal section having substantially the same height along the entire length thereof and said height being sufficient to prevent an operators finger from coming in contact with the point of the needle, said height additionally being suificient to guard the needle point when the needle is at its highest position, but the threading hole of the needle being slightly above the top edge of the horizontal section at said highest needle position whereby said top edge may be used as a guiding edge for the thread.

WILLIAM J ACOBSON 

